Jay-Z

February 23, 2010

Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull has never been afraid to mix it up with the high-priced talent in the floor seats at NBA games. Just because he was working All-Star Saturday in Dallas -- home of the 3-point, skills and slam dunk contests, among others -- didn't mean he'd change his routine.

The difference, of course, is the front row contained All-Stars of its own, so Benny did his best to make Jay-Z feel comfortable with a spot-on performance of Beyonce's dance in the "Single Ladies" video.

While Spike Lee was cracking up a few seats down, Jay and Diddy, who was sitting in the next seat, strained to pretend they couldn't even see the mascot dancing two feet in front of them. Come on guys, lighten up and give some props to a fellow performer doing his job -- entertaining the crowd.

January 31, 2010

The Grammys hadn't even started and already four of the five hip-hop awards had been handed out. Jay-Z grabbed two of them -- Best Rap Solo Performance for "D.O.A." and Best Rap Song for "Run This Town" with Rihanna and Kanye West. The latter added a second award -- and the only one presented live on the broadcast, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration -- to bring Jigga's total to three for the night.

Once presenters Mos Def and Placido Domingo figured out how to open the envelope and read "Run This Town," Rihanna and Jay-Z stepped to the stage and thanked the absent "genius that is Kanye West" in a speech kept brief.

Soon after, Wyclef Jean was given a solo spotlight to make his pitch for continued Haiti support.

Eminem's Relapse won Best Rap Album honors, which comes as no surprise to us, but is still a disappointment. The Grammys could have picked up some more credibility by not making the obvious choice. (Q-Tip's The Renaissance would have received my vote.) Em's "Crack A Bottle" collaboration with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent also won Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group, putting our first-ever predictions at 2-for-5. (We apparently overestimated the influence of Justin Timberlake on Grammy voters.)

One of the early highlights was a Beyonce medley that included an angry performance of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know." Did Jay-Z do something we don't know about? Jay did win the face off with B in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category, as his Kanye collabo beat hers. In fact, West had a 60 percent chance of winning, lending a hand to three of the five nominees.

In a bizarre twist, what was presented by Robert Downey Jr. as an opera performance quickly turned into a Jamie Foxx set that grew to include T-Pain, Doug E. Fresh and Slash. Foxx closed with "I apologize for the auto-tune Jay-Z." Eminem, Drake and Lil' Wayne also performed.

Beyonce finished with a record six trophies for a female artist, beating the five she, Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and others had won at previous shows.

January 30, 2010

The 411 Online has kept a record of every rap Grammy ever awarded, but we've never tried predicting who would win before. That changes now. It's not easy getting into the warped mind of the Grammy voters, who often overvalue pop artists, fall in love with creating repeat winners or just generally have no clue.

September 22, 2009

For the the amount of time Jay-Z spends on this album telling us how ahead of the game he is, it's kind of surprising that he pulled a title from the past. We know Jay is market savvy enough to use the Blueprint name to launch his first album on a new label, Roc Nation -- just as his old label, Def Jam, was smart enough to take a shot at capitalizing on it by packaging the other two in a box set that leaves "a place to complete your collection." Both share a hint of desperation, but thankfully Jay hasn't reached the level that he needs to drop a Reasonable Doubt 2... yet.

Although allegedly the completion of the Blueprint trilogy, it's more of the conclusion to a comeback trifecta of mediocrity, at least by his high standards and the expectations that we -- among others -- have set upon him. That doesn't mean we aren't listening -- check the rating -- but some of the same traps reappear, including the repeated line gimmick that was bad the first time we heard it. (And when did "aw" become Jay-Z's version of Master P's "unh"? I'll have to break out Reasonable Doubt again and see if it's there, but just not nearly as distracting.)

At least one thing was certain: this album had to be better than The Blueprint 2, and nowhere near as good as The Blueprint. At first glance it looks a lot like the first sequel, with all of the guest appearances. That alone is an insult to the solo masterpiece that serves as its namesake.

The first single, "D.O.A.," showed promise with its back-to-basics approach and attempt to rid the world of auto-tune. (Later on in the album he throws throwbacks, Cristal, Timberlands -- not Timbaland, he produces a few surprisingly underwhelming tracks -- rims, gold and "Making It Rain" under the bus as well.) Sadly, the weight of his point is somewhat lost when he employs a practice that should have died several years before auto-tune in a funeral track of its own -- rappers singing. But "D.O.R.S." isn't as catchy an acronym. If I want to hear a bad rendition of "Na Na Hey Hey" I can go to a White Sox game and wait for the opposing pitcher to get pulled. (Actually, the fans' rendition isn't half bad, comparatively speaking.)

Thankfully, Jay didn't go all Ja Rule on us and keep all of the singing to himself. Rihanna steps in on the catchy and pop-radio-ready second single, "Run This Town," which also boasts a nice appearance by Kanye West -- behind the boards and on the mic (despite the bizarre "beasting off the Riesling" concept topped only by his Katy Perry tribute later on).

"Town," savior of the second half "Already Home" and "Real As It Gets" top this album for me. Future be damned, the Young Jeezy-blessed track recalls a couple of my favorite cuts from a simpler time 14 years ago when Eightball & MJG and AZ were sitting "On Top of the World."

It gets complicated from there. As could be expected from a track featuring Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind" gets too big for Jay -- and he sounds a little out of breath throughout. Not that it won't become a New York anthem.

After being underwhelmed after the first spin, it became clear that additional listens would be necessary to appreciate this album. It also provided some perspective in the form of two unrelated events that occurred on Blueprint 3's original release date, Sept. 11: 1) MSNBC spent the morning replaying the events of that date eight years ago; and 2) Michael Jordan's entrance into the Hall of Fame later that night.

The first proved our gut feeling was right that using the term "9/11 them" on the West-produced "Thank You" was too soon, especially when describing the events in detail as a comparison to the end of his rivals' careers. It's in poor taste for the self-proclaimed "new Sinatra." Worse yet, he sports a decidedly non-futuristic Skee-Lo flow.

The second once again provided a perfect metaphor, one that we and Hov have used in recent years. Both past-their-prime stars are stuck settling scores from the past while overstating his impact on the future and having an over-inflated opinion of his place in the present. For Jordan, it was claiming you might see him make a comeback at 50. For Jay, it's the suggestion that this album is really the road map to hip-hop in 2010 and beyond. If anything, Kanye West was the only one to do some truly futuristic sh--, but we already discussed how Jay feels about that. And he claims he doesn't want to hear it, either, at one point saying, "People want my old sh-- / buy my old albums."

But the conflicted truth is revealed throughout. On the album's opener, "What we Talkin' About," the hook is "Who cares what they say?" yet on "So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell) it's "the motivation for me is them telling me what I could not do" and goes even further on "Hate" (featuring Kanye) as he laments that "I made myself so easy to love." Sounds like caring.

The majority of the album is listenable or better, but there's room for improvement. Surprisingly, it's lyrically. Too focused on the past and the future, he's never in the moment. "This is a 'Reminder.'" "On that next sh--." "Welcome to the future." The two themes never stop. It's always what he did or what he's going to do.

The low point is the final track, which would seem fitting except it is often there where you'll find Jay-Z at his deepest. He tries again here, but "Young Forever" comes off hollow and a bit forced. The Beyonce collabos are thankfully absent, but the weak "Venus vs. Mars" duet with Cassie fills the void.

Then there's "A Star is Born," which at first listen seems like a tribute to all of Jay-Z's MC peers from the past decade or so, but like Jordan's trash-talking induction speech it turns into a bitter list of backhanded compliments. Jay dismisses -- sometimes accurately -- Mase, DMX, Puffy, 50 Cent, Nas, Eminem, Nelly, Ludacris, Ja Rule, T.I., Outkast, Mobb Deep as simply passing through hip-hop as his career keeps moving, closing with this comment on the Wu-Tang Clan: "They had a hell of a run. Standing ovate." But their rhyme ain't done any more than Jay's is, as evidenced by the fact that Raekwon's own sequel to a classic made sure BP 3 wasn't a unanimous pick for the best album released on Sept. 8, let alone in 2009. But clap for Jigga. He deserves a standing ovation, too, for his hell of a run from 1996-2003.

It's time for Jay-Z to take his own advice from this very album and get "Off That" Blueprint. Move "On To The Next One" and leave the guest stars in the green room. Unless he really doesn't have anything more -- or better -- to say. Click here to find out how to buy this album.

February 10, 2009

Lil' Wayne owned the hip-hop portion of the Grammy Awards, which should come as no surprise considering he led all artists -- regardless of genre -- with eight nominations.

Wayne was denied any overall awards, but he took home at least a share of four of the five rap honors, with Best Rap/Sung Collaboration being the lone exception. Estelle and Kanye West won for "American Boy." However, Lil' Wayne left with the trophies for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Of course, R&B stars Chris Brown and Rihanna stole the show without even showing up, thanks to an alleged domestic dispute before the event that led to charges for Brown.

January 21, 2009

As always, The 411 Online is not of one mind when it comes to the end of the year honors. The Best of 2008 is our first edition since the site was retooled with an old school emphasis -- and 15th overall -- but that doesn't mean our staff's favorites are limited to that generation of artists. Q-Tip and Jay-Z represent the golden era, but Lil' Wayne, T.I. and Young Jeezy are featured as well. Keeping it simple this year, here are our picks for the Best of 2008.

January 12, 2009

A BET producer that formerly worked at Roc-A-Fella hopes to shed light on the rift between Jay-Z and Damon Dash in an upcoming documentary.

The producer, who goes by the name Choke No Joke, says the problems started when Dash signed O.D.B. and wanted to promote Cam'ron to vice president of the record company. However, the title of the doc -- "I Am Choke, No Joke" -- suggests it will be about more than just Jay and Dame. Or is that less?

January 07, 2009

As if All of the stars are coming out for Barack Obama's inauguration. Jay-Z will celebrate with the backing of a live band Jan. 19 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., according to the Baltimore Sun.

Tickets will be available at the venue's box office and Ticketmaster starting Friday, Jan. 9 at 10 a.m.

Blaichman, Jay-Z and their business partners bought the site, which included the property and air rights, for $66 million in August 2007. The plans called for the Chelsea neighborhood's "first full-service five-star hotel" to rise above the existing boutique hotels. But the project, which included multiple restaurants, a pool, a gym and a spa, needs $200 million in financing. Jay-Z's partner remains confident, despite drawing no income from the property as he attempts to rent out the warehouse and extend the mortgage.

"It's one
of the greatest stretches of undeveloped areas," Blaichman said. "I still think it's going to take off."

December 15, 2008

There's a reason superstar couples don't stay together long. It's not easy. Beyonce tells Elle magazine: "It's a power struggle. But if I didn't respect someone and they didn't have that strength, then I would be bored. I wouldn't be attracted to them. But at the same time, I'm not looking for someone to dominate me."

She also adds that there are no plans to add to the family. "No way! I'm terrified of delivering a child because I saw my nephew being born. That traumatized me. I'm only 27. I've got time."